The Sunday Junkie: Aug. 9 edition

http://mmajunkie.comIt didn’t take long for a reputation to be reborn – three minutes and 23 seconds, to be exact.

While back-to-back lackluster performances by middleweight champion Anderson Silva left many observers questioning the true greatness of the potent striker, a devastating win over Forrest Griffin in the co-main event of “UFC 101: Declaration” in Philadelphia on Saturday night left little doubt as to “The Spider’s” place in the current landscape of MMA.

In this week’s edition of “The Sunday Junkie,” MMAjunkie.com readers focus on the stunning display put on by the Brazilian champion, and where he goes from here.

While the reaction to Silva’s performance was overwhelmingly positive, this week’s winner, Dom Velando, believes “The Spider’s” win will now set up a showdown few were expecting to see: Anderson Silva vs. Dana White. The UFC President has made it clear teammates will fight if the matchup is necessary, though Silva made it clear in the event’s post-event press conference he had no interest in fighting Lyoto Machida.

Check out all of the submissions, including Dom’s piece, below. Additionally, be sure to check out MMAjunkie.com Radio on Monday (noon to 2 p.m. ET) as Dom discusses the topic in more detail.

Finally, Dom has won a 12-month subscription to Fighters Only. Congratulations!

And to learn how to submit to next week’s edition of The Sunday Junkie, scroll to the bottom of the page.

* * * *SILVA WILL FIGHT MACHIDA – IF WHITE WINS FIRST

If there’s one unenviable part of UFC President Dana White’s job, it’s trying to get stubborn world-class fighters to do what he tells them. Last night, Anderson Silva once again vowed never to fight his “friend” and “brother,” light heavyweight champion Lyoto Machida. White vowed to make the fight happen. MMA fans (including White himself) are obsessed with finding out who is the best pound-for-pound fighter. Some are expressing that a Machida vs. Silva showdown is even more compelling than Fedor Emelianenko vs. Brock Lesnar. So, if Machida and Silva continue to dominate as expected, a showdown between Silva and White might take place before we find out who is the true pound-for-pound king.

Dom Velando
Le Claire, Iowa

SHEER DOMINANCE

B.J. Penn, Georges St. Pierre, Anderson Silva, Lyoto Machida and Brock Lesnar. Other than championship belts, what is the common denominator? The ability to dominate their respective divisions. All of these champions have scored recent victories in characteristically impressive fashion – not only devastating their opponents, but taking little or no damage in the process. There is little doubt regarding the validity of their championship belts. In fact, while there are top contenders in each division, there are no obvious successors – a testament to the vacuum between the champions and the challengers. This dominance is also a testament to the evolution of MMA, reflecting the skill level necessary to be a champion in MMA today and giving a glimpse of the future. For even the most dominant of champions will ultimately be superseded as the evolution continues. Clearly, it is a good time to be an MMA fan.

“PG”
Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

ANDERSON SILVA UNTOUCHABLE IN TWO WEIGHT CLASSES

“I want to fight the best competition.” That was Anderson Silva’s statement before his fight with Forrest Griffin at UFC 101. Even after acknowledging the task at hand, Silva again secured his spot as the pound-for-pound best fighter. Silva’s continued onsluaght of both the UFC middleweight and light heavyweight divisons has propelled him to untocuhable status. There may not be a single competitor in either divison that matches up with Silva besides his friend, Lyoto Machida. Unitl that fight, Silva will dominate anyone he fights. His recent massacre also shows that he still has that finishing ability that many thought he lacked in his past two fights. Silva proved that when placed in front of worthy competition he can elevate his game to near perfection. Although his moniker is “The Spider,” I think that Silva can pull off “The Artist” because his performance was a thing of beauty.

T.J. Braun
Cincinnati, Ohio

ANDERSON SILVA THE WORLD’S BEST POUND-FOR-POUND FIGHTER

With “The Spider’s” performance at UFC 101, it should be obvious that Anderson Silva is the best pound-for-pound fighter in the world. Although B.J. Penn, Georges St. Pierre and Fedor Emelianenko all decisively beat their opponents, only Anderson Silva makes his opponents look really bad – and at the next weight class, mind you. Forrest Griffin even said as much in the COuntdown to UFC 101 – little did the former light heavyweight champion know at the time that he would look the worst yet.

Eric “Training4aFight” Von Bergren
Westminster, Md.

PROOF THAT “THE PRODIGY” BELONGS AT 155 POUNDS

In September 2006, when B.J. Penn lost to Matt Hughes, he made the right choice to drop to 155 pounds. Whether or not it was his decision or due to Dana White’s influence, it was the best choice Penn could have made. He went on a nasty run to win the lightweight title, in doing so avenging a previous loss to a world champion in Jens Pulver. However, Penn got over-confident and decided to make the jump back to the welterweight division after only defending the lightweight belt one time. Trying to avenge another loss to Georges St. Pierre, it didn’t work out – and only proved one thing; “The Prodigy” belongs at lightweight. After defeating Kenny Florian Saturday night at lightweight, and looking great doing it, the sky is the limit for Penn – as long as he stays at his natural weight.

Ryan Meleedy
Middleboro, Mass.

UFC 101 DEFINES THE NEED FOR INSTANT REPLAY

First it was Mirko Filipovic’s inadvertant eye-poke to Mustapha Al-Turk – an incident that ultimatly led to “Cro Cop” winning the fight. Would he have won regardless of the eye-poke? Probably, but who are we to speculate? At UFC 101 in Philidelphia, another fight could have benifitted from the use of instant replay. Of course I’m talking about the Amir Sodollah vs. Johnny Hendricks fight. I personally think that if the fight continued without interference from the referee, the fight would have ended in the same manner with Sodollah losing by TKO. But that’s not the point. The point is that it was a premature stoppage and with the use of instant replay, it could have restarted on the feet, or at least ended in a no-contest. MLB took the latest step in introducing instant replay; I feel MMA should not be far behind.

Ryan Meleedy
Middleboro, Mass.

MMA’S ROCKEFELLER

Strikeforce, M–1 Global, and MMA in general owe Dana White a word of thanks. His fair-weather regard for fighters and companies without a
Zuffa contract gives high-profile attention to “enemies” of the UFC, but Dana White the promoter draws attention as the businessman who
turned a scorned sideshow into a profitable monopoly. The “world’s biggest fight fan” roots for MMA the same way John D. Rockefeller
rooted for the auto industry — a great thing, so long as it didn’t threaten his operation. And a financially-viable MMA promotion like Strikeforce does just that. Why give a 3–1 ex-pro wrestler a title fight, when Floyd Mayweather, Jr. couldn’t get an immediate shot at Manny Pacquiao? Because “hype” matches make money. Competing promotions who offer interesting fights between legitimately ranked fighters will make ridiculous matchups more difficult to sell. And that’s bad for the UFC’s bottom line, but not necessarily for us.

Jason A. Grafft
Riverside, Calif.

STRIKEFORCE’S PAY-PER-VIEW PLANS COULD SPELL DISASTER

Strikeforce CEO Scott Coker recently stated that his organization’s first pay-per-view event is “probably six to nine months away,” signifying the promotion’s next step in how it reaches out to its fans. This move by the steadfast company could prove to be treacherous waters, as the organization, while proving to be a solid league, has still put up viewer numbers that pale in comparison to UFC pay per views. In April, Stikeforce aired “Shamrock vs. Diaz” to an audience of 364,000. Translating those viewer numbers into pay-per-view sales could signify the first step of Strikeforce’s demise. For a company to succeed in pay-per-view sales, they must have a fanbase that rivals that of the UFC. If a dominant organization like the UFC has a two-million viewer fanbase from SpikeTV translate into an average of a half-million buys, what would be the conversion for Strikeforce’s 364,000?

Brad Shelton
Kansas City, Mo.

WHY THE CONFUSION REGARDING EMELIANENKO’S DECISION?

UFC President Dana White has expressed confusion over why Fedor Emelianenko refused to sign a contract that “every other fighter on earth” could. This statement ignores the opinions of Randy Couture, Tito Ortiz, Roger Huerta, Jon Fitch and Joachim Hansen, who have all at one time expressed contempt for the UFC’s contractual obligations. Read what Emelianenko had to say about the UFC’s policies and “attitude toward fighters” and compare these statements to what Randy Couture said when he left the company a couple years ago. Meanwhile, not every other fighter on earth is co-owner of a fight promotion. Emelianenko is now involved in a partnership instead of employed by a man who has been publicly belittling him for years. The world’s best heavyweight is attending to his needs; not to what the fans believe he “owes” them.

Dom Velando
Le Claire, Iowa

NOT IN IT FOR THE MONEY?

A recent quote from M-1 Global’s Jerry Millen: “M-1 Global, which was started in Russia by Vadim Finkelchtein – and Fedor’s a big part of it now – they’ve been promoting a long time,” Millen told MMAjunkie.com. “Vadim does this for the love of the sport. Make no mistake that Vadim doesn’t make his money from MMA. He’s a businessman in Russia, and he loves the sport. He’s not in it for the money.” It is about money. Fighters fight, managers manage, and promoters promote, all for money. The reason there is no Fedor Emelianenko in the UFC, is that there wasn’t enough money for Mr. Finkelchtein unless M-1 Global was co-promoter and got half of the revenue. Besides, they need Fedor to continue to fight washed-up UFC champs and tomato cans. He’s their meal ticket. Gotta keep the myth alive. He wants nothing to do with the UFC heavyweight division because he would get exposed.

Jason Williams
Ottawa, W.V.

AN OPEN LETTER TO FEDOR EMELIANENKO

Dear Fedor: First of all, I am an MMA fan – not a businessman. That said, I am confused by your actions. Walk down the street and most people could tell you they have heard of the UFC, whether for good reasons or bad. Not many know who you are – and no one knows M-1 Global. I hear that you have a share of M-1 Global, so here is where it gets kind of confusing. How about signing with the UFC, beat up the competition over only four or five fights in a two-year period, become more famous than Brock Lesnar and – wait a second, get this – retire and promote M-1 Global all over the world, including the U.S. It seems like a fool-proof plan for free marketing over the widest audience possible. You and Lesnar would be seen by millions, and if you win, you become legend. You and M-1 Global need the UFC for success.

David Tieso
Smithtown, N.Y.

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